As a measure to prevent engine sound, road noise from front tires (front wheels), i.e., noise received from a road surface (so-called “tire noise”), and others, from intruding into a passenger compartment through a front fender area in a front of a vehicle, there has been generally known a technique of providing a sound insulator in a void space located just above a front wheel and surrounded by: a front fender panel; a cowl side member disposed on a vehicle inward side with respect to the front fender panel to extend in a vehicle front-rear direction; and a mud guard disposed just below the front fender panel and the cowl side member to form a wheel housing.
The Patent JP 2000-177648 discloses a structure configured such that a clip is locked to a joint flange extending downwardly from a lower end of a frame member (equivalent to the cowl side member) formed of a hood ridge member and a hood ridge reinforcement member to extend along a lateral edge of an upper portion in a front of a vehicle body, wherein the clip is formed with a bottom portion extending from the joint flange toward a front fender panel provided outward of the frame member to support a sound insulator from therebelow, whereby the sound insulator can be installed in a void space formed between the frame member and the front fender panel.
In this structure, it is desired to completely close the void space by the sound insulator, in view of preventing sound intrusion into a passenger compartment. However, if the void space is completely closed by the sound insulator, a problem occurs in a situation where an elongated line component, such as a wiring harness, a pipe or a cable, to be laid to extend in a vehicle front-rear direction, passes through the void space, i.e., the laying of the line component becomes difficult.